Things you do to afford a Disney trip...

luvmylatte · May 18, 2015

BadPinkTink said:
OMG, I get this too people say to me "but how can you afford to go to America and Disneyland every year" but then the very same people spend huge amounts of money on a night out or having the latest gaming console or buying the latest designer clothes etc etc

I often have people commenting on my vacation,but the amount I spend on my Disney vacation is probably less than they spend to go to the various beach locales and popular destinations for summer. Funny how those vacations are excepted as "normal" and mine is crazy ridiculous and spend crazy.

milwaukeemommy · May 18, 2015

Got my cable/ internet billed lowered today by $67/ month! Guess where that $67 will be going ....

tink9702 · May 19, 2015

We do a lot of the things already mentioned - watch food budget, don't eat out much, points on credit cards, only one car payment, clean/mow our own house, don't smoke, water from the tap, no soda.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is savings on hobbies. I LOVE to read, but I'm now just visiting the library once a week with the kids. We take out a ton (literally can barely carry the bag) of books so I haven't spent money on books in a long time. DH used to rent movies all the time and the cost added up but now we have netflix and overall it saves us money since we also dropped cable TV. We do spend money on Swimming lessons for the kids but I'm resisting putting either kid in any other activities. Not really to save money, more to save time & they aren't interested yet. When I ask they say no. We do have a zoo membership, but that gets us into other places free/discounted such as other zoos & the science museum as well. We also spend a lot of time riding bikes, playgrounds, beach which are all free.

daphnehdz108 · May 21, 2015

We like to invite extra family members along because our daughter is an only child. We plan very carefully by looking at menus, and estimating other expenses. We usually book hotels on bookit or travelocity and get a lower rate. Then we buy tickets through Disney.com. We bring snacks and always drive down from GA to FL. It is still fairly expensive but we budget for everything, from snacks to souvenirs. I also use swagbucks and apply gift cards to something special like dinner for 6 at the Rainforest Cafe.
We've stayed in off-site condo style hotels, value and moderate resorts.

jodlyn2 · May 22, 2015

I'm putting in extra hours at my second job. On the days I'm double shifting and I'm tired I just remember how excited my kids are going to be next year, their first time to WDW

Parker Clan · May 22, 2015

We drive every year too..so we start budgeting early in the year for gas & Dis savings (tix, food, hotels, etc) we booked our trip in Dec for Aug & we started in January this year putting $ from each of our paychecks into both envelopes. Once we get to a certain amount in the spending envelope we buy our Hopper passes. Now closer to the trip we doubled the amount we are putting in. We also do the change thing & bottle returns. Every little bit adds up! Also we are blessed to have relatives who watch our dog for us .. Saves $$ since we are gone for 12 days && we watch theirs when they travel .

JustCor · May 23, 2015

I have a separate bank account that I don't use for any bills. I have a set amount of money that gets automatically deposited from each check. I count that money as spent before I start doing bills. It's not a lot of money, but it adds up. I don't bring that debit card out with me very often. Out of sight, out of mind, really. So when I figure out when I want to go to Disney, I look at what I have in that account, and it becomes my Disney account. All of my transactions for my Disney trip will come out of that account, that way it doesn't have an impact on my everyday use bank funds. It's also a nice bit of added excitement to be able to use that card, since it's typically only used for fun.

Veggie · May 24, 2015

For over ten years we saved every penny of our tax refund for a house. Now that we have the house, we are using this year's tax refund to visit the mouse.

Angie789 · May 24, 2015

Lots of the same things other have mentioned - using credit card points/companion pass to pay for airline tickets and rental cars. Using sites like Swagbucks and Perk to pay for park tickets and food (the whole buying Target cards to buy Disney cards with the Red Card dance). I also do secret shopping as a second source of income to fund all our vacations. There was a period of time where I was pulling in an additional $1K a month doing that, but I was killing myself so I have greatly scaled back on secret shopping - my goal is $200/month now, and I pretty much always hit that goal while still maintaining my sanity and some kind of work-life balance. Our kids are younger now, so we are content to mostly do Disney-based vacations, but we definitely have plans to do bigger, more expensive trips as they age (Alaska, Europe). Because of that, we just recently started an auto-deduction from our checking account into a separate vacation savings account. We are just doing $100/month and we are fortunate to be comfortable enough that we don't miss that. We aren't planning on touching that money for at least 3 years, so when the time comes to take our big vacations, we will already have a nice supplemental stash saved up to help with costs that we can't cover with credit card points and my secret shopping money.

luvthemouse71 · May 28, 2015

I make a good living but I still live simply for the most part at home. I do my own manicures and pedicures, color my own hair, and I don't smoke and rarely drink. My makeup, skincare and hair stuff I get at the drugstore. I buy most things on sale.

Narnia_girl · May 29, 2015

Angie789 said:
Lots of the same things other have mentioned - using credit card points/companion pass to pay for airline tickets and rental cars. Using sites like Swagbucks and Perk to pay for park tickets and food (the whole buying Target cards to buy Disney cards with the Red Card dance). I also do secret shopping as a second source of income to fund all our vacations. There was a period of time where I was pulling in an additional $1K a month doing that, but I was killing myself so I have greatly scaled back on secret shopping - my goal is $200/month now, and I pretty much always hit that goal while still maintaining my sanity and some kind of work-life balance. Our kids are younger now, so we are content to mostly do Disney-based vacations, but we definitely have plans to do bigger, more expensive trips as they age (Alaska, Europe). Because of that, we just recently started an auto-deduction from our checking account into a separate vacation savings account. We are just doing $100/month and we are fortunate to be comfortable enough that we don't miss that. We aren't planning on touching that money for at least 3 years, so when the time comes to take our big vacations, we will already have a nice supplemental stash saved up to help with costs that we can't cover with credit card points and my secret shopping money.

I'd be interested in information of legitimate Secret Shop companies. I have done several searches on Disboards and most of the Secret Shops threads are 3 years or older. One thread had a great listing of companies and the type of shops they offer, but it is now outdated. I am doing my very first shop this weekend so I'll find out if I like it.

LovesTimone · May 30, 2015

There are so many ways to get creative to be able to get your Mickey fix.

1) One friend buys a Disney GC every other week when she does her grocery shopping she shoots for 50.00 sometimes she manages 100.00 other only 25.00 - She does meal planning and does the cooks like crazy program 2 or 3 days in a 2 week span.

2) Garage sales, I made 1,205.42 at my last garage sale, which every penny went for Disney. I had it over 3 days, and sold a ton of stuff.

3) eBay, Consignment shops have worked well for me in the past.

4) One friends DH is not a big fan of Disney, so when she want to take the family 2 years ago, he said if you can pay for it you can go, she said don't you want to go, he said nope.. I'll stay home with the dogs. So she started couponing, and paying herself what she would have spent without the coupons. She then started watching 2 little boys after school, they were friends of her boys. The boys mom was paying a ridiculous amount for after school care 200.00 a week. So my friend charges her 100.00 a week. She dropped her gym membership, and started going to her church and using the church's gym for 10.00 a month. She still laughs when she tells the story on how her DH looked holding the dogs leash's as she pulled away from the house. She said it was priceless :rotfl2:

.... Oh yeah now when she says you want to go, he's like Yep... :rotfl2:

Disneytwinsmom · May 30, 2015

This is a great thread with a lot of amazing tips! I appreciate all the creative ideas.

Ngwira · May 30, 2015

We are fortunate to make a good living, but I am still frugal. I don't pay full price for anything. I use coupons and discounts. I shop goodwill, thrift shops and yard sales. I work out at home and don't pay for a gym membership. I use groupon and living social. I cook at home and rarely eat out. I bring leftovers for lunch.
We bought a "small" house (1450 sq feet) which is very affordable to maintain. We refinanced recently and will save $200.00 a month on our mortgage. We drive older cars- my 2002 Honda has 190,000 miles on it!! No car payment for us.
Our daughters are not enrolled in a zillion activities like other families we know. They play outside with friends and are content. We have many nice things but most are used and second hand. Most of our furniture was bought at thrift stores and we repurposed it.
Bottom line is, we live below our means. To heck with the Jones', we don't try to keep up with them. We spend our money on experiences and not things.

Loves The Mouse · May 30, 2015

Great tread! Family and friends always ask how we seem to save for our trips. We try to live frugally. We live within a budget. Any extra goes in what we call our Disney " Stash". It adds up quick. For example any over time, refunds, gifts and change. I worked for Memorial Day and a double shift that day. That extra in my pay is going into the stash. We keep saying " Eye on the prize!" When we give up little things to save for our trip!

seashell724 · Jul 27, 2015

Any more tips?

Goofy'slady · Jul 28, 2015

We have accessory exchanges here at work, so everything from jewelry, scarves, watches, purses and such that you no longer use or have room for at home you bring into work and we swap. So this last one we had afforded me a almost brand spanking new Coach crossbody purse that I wanted for our upcoming August trip. Not to mention a ton of brand new OPI nail polishes as well. These all were things I had planned on picking up for myself and now due to the exchange at work I don't have to and I save a ton of money in the process. Bonus is that the items that I got were all from my co-worker who happens to be a friend of mine outside of work so everything I got I know was taken well care of or like I said never even opened (nail polish). Thanks Joanne!!!

worm761 · Jul 28, 2015

seashell724 said:
Any more tips?

I think most of the normal tips are in this thread. But usually adding income is necessary if you're already frugal. I find when I see blogs about ways to cut things or save money, I'm always like I already do all that stuff! LOL

My dad has a Disney habit too. He is retired but picked up a part time job with Merchandiser Connection. He stocks pizza and ice cream at local grocery stores. This is how he funds his trips to Disney.

Jon84 · Jul 28, 2015

We've re-mortgaged the house / switched lender to get a better interest rate which will save us £200pm, it will probably go towards the next trip!

tinkermom23 · Jul 28, 2015

Whenever I want to do something big like a Disney trip, DH always says "Great, you figure out how to pay for it." I was a stay-at-home-mom so I found side jobs where the kids could come with me. We live in MN so lots of lake cabins and I spent a whole summer cleaning. While I was scrubbing their bathrooms I kept thinking about Cinderella, and reminding myself that I would be able to eat at the castle with my DD. It was an awesome trip!!
Now I work at a school so I have summers off. This summer I am helping a family friend start their concession business so most weekends I am working in a cheese curds stand at county fairs. It's pretty good money and I just whistle Disney tunes all the time.
It's good to get the whole family involved some how. If they can't contribute financially they can do a few extra chores around the house while I am out working extra jobs or DH is working overtime. Then we all feel like we accomplished the goal together.

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